Capela do Carme

Lady of Mount Carmel. It was built in five stages, from 1778 to 1820, according to plans drawn up by architect Fulgencio Durán, although the facade incorporates elements designed by another anonymous architect.

Interior. The structure of the church is baroque, along with many of the elements it contains. It is organized in three sections starting with the main chapel, each delimited by pilasters whose bases are embellished with molding, and which are topped with pronounced cornices. The ceiling of the main chapel is barrel vaulted, as with that of the choir. The two middle sections have groin vaults. Under the window of the main chapel and on the facade, we find the coat of arms of the House of Soutomerille.

Altarpiece of the Virgin of the Way. Whereas the original altarpiece was dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the current altarpiece is dedicated to the Virgin of the Way, whose central image may date from the first third of the sixteenth century. It is a typically seventeenth-century one-piece retable with estipite columns framing a polygonal shrine. Its back is adorned with oval-shaped plates and the classic pilgrim’s scallop shell, in allusion to the Camino de Santiago. It is surmounted by the coat of arms of the Carmelite Order.

Altarpiece of Saint Raymond. The altarpiece, originally dedicated to the Virgin of the Way, was changed in 1763 to Saint Raymond. The image was taken from the chapel located above Lugo’s Porta Miñá gate. Baroque-style single-piece retable atop a predella. It is surmounted by a circular emblem flanked by scrolls and the pilgrim’s scallop shell, with symbols of the Christian martyrs. It was restored in 1828 by painter Juan Bernardo Pérez de Castinande.

Altarpiece of the main chapel. On 5 January 1826 the church brotherhood arranged for the construction of the main altarpiece, with foreman Juan Sánchez, and Lugo sculptor Antonio Luaces, who prepared the plans. Its style is essentially Greco-Roman or neoclassical, but executed with baroque flare. Over the doors leading to the sacristy are the images of Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa.

Shrine of the Virgin. The image of Mount Carmel of Lugo was commissioned in 1845 from the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. It was made by sculptor Francisco Bellver (1812-1890). In the shrine there are fifteen mirrors distributed in three groups of five in a saltire arrangement, alluding to the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries of the rosary.